


A Typical Day for the Fantastic Four

by jayofmo



Category: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (Comicverse), Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 00:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6731341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayofmo/pseuds/jayofmo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is kind of a revisionist take on the classic Fantastic Four comics (there's been a ton of great comics, but I'm most familiar with the Lee/Kirby era). The main thing that's different is that they don't all live together in the Baxter Building. I just think it's interesting to have them come together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Typical Day for the Fantastic Four

“All right, here we are, Alicia,” Ben Grimm said softly.

Alicia Masters held the rocky hand of her boyfriend as they climbed the steps to the Baxter Building. The girl had found her way many times before on her own, but allowed Ben to guide her anyway when they came to visit their friends Reed Richards and his wife Sue.

“Hey there, tall, dark and orange!” called a familiar voice. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, descended from the sky in front of Ben and Alicia. “And you brought the Missus!”

“Beat it, hot shot,” growled Ben, although a chuckle in his voice betrayed him.

“How's it going, Alicia?” asked Johnny, ignoring Ben.

“Well, I'm doing fine. I sold a few sculptures recently,” she replied as they stepped into the building and headed to the elevator.

“Nice, catch you upstairs!” called Johnny, resuming his fiery form and flying out the nearest exit.

“Ah, gotta love the knucklehead,” chuckled Ben as he hit the buttons. The elevator began to rise to the highest levels of the Baxter Building where Reed Richards and his wife Susan—Johnny's sister—made their home as Reed carried out his experiments.

“Geez, what took so long?” chuckled Johnny as the elevator opened up.

[](http://jaredofmo.deviantart.com/art/A-Typical-Day-for-the-Fantastic-Four-590435137#) “Beat it, bub!” grunted Ben as he led Alicia to a seat.  
  
“Hello, Sue!” said Alicia as she sat down.

Sue appeared. “She never fails to spot me,” she said cheerfully.

“I'm blind,” Alicia reminded them. “It makes no difference to me if you're invisible or not.”

“Where's Stretcho?” asked Ben.

“Where else?” sighed Sue.

Ben had, of course, arrived for a regular check-up with Reed. Since their life-changing test flight of Reed's space craft, Sue, Johnny, Ben and Reed had developed strange powers. Reed could stretch and reform his body, Sue could turn invisible and create force fields, Johnny had his flame powers, but Ben had become covered with a thick, orange, rocky hide. This added to Ben's strength and made him invulnerable to most harm, but if there was a way for him to revert to his human self, he had yet to discover it.

Johnny and Ben chose to live separately from their teammates. Johnny had his college education to complete, while Ben preferred to live with his girlfriend, Alicia, in her sculpting studio. Ben would visit Reed and Sue regularly so Reed could monitor Ben's condition and see if there was a way to reverse his mutation.

Ben marched into Reed's lab, filled with various equipment that defied understanding. Reed was inputting data into a device while examining a machine that barely resembled a doctor's scale. This would be common enough, if it wasn't for the fact that the machine and Reed's device were on opposite sides of the lab.

“Heya, Stretcho!” chuckled Ben.

Reed looked up, snapping his body back to its normal form.

“Ben! Right on time!” replied Reed, not missing a beat. “Step over this way.”

 

Alicia reached into her bag and took out a sculpture. It had always amazed Johnny and Sue how she managed to create such lifelike statuettes without having actually seen the subjects. This particular one was of Ben.

“Nice,” commented Johnny.

“How is college treating you?” asked Sue.  
“It's all right,” Johnny shrugged. “Started dating this girl named Dorrie Evans. She's nice. Oh, yeah, and I'm pals with this guy named Wyatt.”

“And they know you have superpowers?” Alicia asked.

[](http://jaredofmo.deviantart.com/art/A-Typical-Day-for-the-Fantastic-Four-590435137#) “Well, yeah,” was the hesitant reply. “Just… gotta be a little careful with showing them off. Don't wanna burn anyone or… melt a car into slag or something.”

Susan laughed.

“Well, sis, how's being cooped up in here?”

“'Cooped up?'” laughed Sue. “Hardly! I don't even need to be invisible to blend in down there. I only need to do that if someone recognizes me.”

“Too bad I recognize you right now!” said a shrill, deep voice. Johnny and Sue found themselves covered in a sticky substance as a stocky man entered. He wore a strange suit of body armor and carried a small tank with a small but powerful sprayer attached by some plastic tubing.  
“It's Paste-Pot Pete!” groaned Johnny, wiping the goo off of his face.

“Trapster!” snarled the intruder, taking offense.

“What's going on?” asked Alicia, surprised.

“Don't worry,” the Trapster hissed at her. “I'm not interested in a helpless blind girl.”  
Alicia shuddered as he put his hand on her shoulder.

“Although, you are quite pretty...”

Johnny attempted to use his flame, but the goo smothered it as soon as it lit up.

“I'm not stupid, Torch.”

Sue attempted to project a force field, but found herself unable to concentrate. In fact, Johnny also began to feel dizzy and they shortly both fell to the floor.

“What happened to them?” asked Alicia.

“Just a little bit of a noxious scent,” the Trapster replied. “Harmless at even a few inches away, but when you're covered with it, well….”

“You can't win!” Alicia said between clenched teeth. “Reed and Ben will stop you!”  
“If they can work faster than I can!”

The Trapster headed for the lab door.

Alicia acted fast and raising her sculpture, struck the intruder over the head with it, knocking him out, but also smashing it to bits in the process.

As Alicia caught her breath, Ben and Reed stepped out of the lab, smiling for a second before they saw the scene that awaited them. Johnny and Sue coated in a sticky substance, unconscious on the floor, while Alicia stood over the fallen Trapster, bits of broken clay all around.

Reed hurried over to Sue, cradling her as he ensured that she was otherwise unharmed. Ben scooped up Alicia.

“You all right?” he asked, as he went over to check Johnny. “What happened to Suzy and Johnny?”

“The Trapster said something about some scent,” Alicia said quietly.

“Yeah, ol' Paste-Pot Pete here's got a few things to answer fer when he comes to.”

Reed and Ben put the Trapster in a holding cell, removed from his equipment as they cleaned Sue and Johnny off.

“I guess ol' hot head needed the shut-eye,” chuckled Ben as they laid the siblings down to rest in the recovery bay.

Alicia chuckled. “You care about him,” she said quietly, smiling.

“Of course,” Ben chuckled. “But don't let him hear that.”

“Too late, bud,” whispered Johnny, getting up, half groggy.


End file.
